The US Travel Association on Monday announced Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group, as its new national chair. He was elected in a member-wide vote. Last week, Ballotti presided over his first Board of Directors meeting as national chair. Ballotti succeeds Travel Oregon CEO Todd Davidson. “We are thrilled to welcome Geoff as our new chair,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. “Who better to help us emphasize the tremendous power of...
The negotiating team for Southwest material specialists has reached a tentative agreement to amend their current collective bargaining agreement with Southwest Airlines. The negotiating team is comprised of Teamsters Airline Division International Representatives, local union business agents and rank-and-file committee members. The agreement marks an end to a successful round of negotiations that originally began in September of 2013. The agreement is a result of bargaining that led to an...
Klaus Goersch, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Air Canada has resigned effective April 30, 2017. He will continue to lead Air Canada’s operations until his departure. The Corporation will announce his successor in due course. Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents. Canada’s flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2016 served close to 45 million...
BENCHMARK. a global hospitality company, has named Matina Lapanaitis general manager for The Mayfair Hotel, a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels property located in Los Angeles, California. Greg Champion, BENCHMARK’s president, made the announcement. “I am pleased to announce Matina’s newest position within our company, said Mr. Champion. “She brings strong managerial skills and significant local and regional market experience to her new role as general manager of The Mayfair Hotel.” A seasoned...
Neil Mills, currently Chief Strategy & Planning Officer at airberlin, will take up the new post of Chief Transformation Officer with immediate effect and lead a newly created division which will work across the whole airline to strengthen the overall performance of the company. airberlin’s CEO Thomas Winkelmann said: “This new role is another step forward in the transformation of airberlin. We have, so far, made good progress implementing the strategy of new airberlin which...
Alaska Airlines’ board of directors has elected Wayne Newton as vice president of airport operations and customer service effective today. In his new role, Newton will oversee airport operations in 84 cities and a team of more than 2,700 employees and contractors. He replaces Jeff Butler, who is now Alaska Airlines’ vice president of guest and inflight services – Virgin America. “Wayne knows this business inside and out and is perfectly suited to lead one of our largest...
Southwest Airlines Co. announced today several Leadership promotions from within the Company’s ranks. Ryan Green is promoted to Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer; and Bill Tierney is promoted to Managing Director Marketing. Within Corporate Delivery & Technology, Erika Linford is promoted to Vice President, Corporate Delivery—Commercial, Customer, & Ground Operations. Chris Monroe has been promoted to Senior Vice President Finance. Monroe will continue to serve as...
Benchmark, a global hospitality company, has named Tobby Rau director of operations for The Grove Resort & Spa Orlando. The 878 room all-suite hotel, which is a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels property, opened its first phase on March 10, 2017, just minutes from Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida. Bill Lee, The Grove’s general manager, made the announcement. “It is a pleasure to have Tobby as a key part of The Grove Resort & Spa Orlando opening team,” said Mr. Lee. “He...
Howard Eng, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA), announced today that Jill Sharland, the GTAA’s Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is leaving the GTAA effective March 23, 2017. The GTAA’s Board of Directors has appointed Ian Clarke as the GTAA’s interim Chief Financial Officer, effective April 10, 2017. Mr. Clarke has served as a Director of the GTAA since 2012, including as a member and Chair of its Audit Committee...
Benchmark, a global hospitality company, has named Kristina Turner area director of marketing for the Forbes Four Star-rated Villas of Grand Cypress, a Gemstone Collection property, and The Grove Resort & Spa Orlando, a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels property that opened its first phase on March 10, 2017. Both resorts are located near Walt Disney World® in Orlando, Florida. Ted Davis, chief sales & marketing office for Benchmark, made the announcement. “It is a pleasure to welcome...
To further strengthen airberlin’s Commercial Division, Elisabeth Jesse will become Vice President of airberlin’s Customer Experience and Innovation Division at the beginning of July. Her main task will be to promote innovative service and customer offers as part of the transformation of airberlin. Elisabeth Jesse will report directly to the Chief Commercial Officer, Götz Ahmelmann, who joined airberlin from Etihad at the beginning of March. CCO, Götz Ahmelmann, said of the...
Genting Hong Kong Limited (“Genting”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Colin Au as the Group President of the Company with immediate effect and Mr. Kent Zhu as President of Genting Cruise Lines, effective May this year. Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay (Tan Sri Lim), Chairman of the Board, continues to be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company. Mr. Colin Au joined the Genting Group 38 years ago and served in different positions within the Group in Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Hong...
US scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.9 percent more workers in January 2017 than in January 2016, the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. January was the highest monthly FTE total (417,833) since November 2007 (419,313) and was the 39th consecutive month that US scheduled passenger airline full-time equivalent (FTE) employment exceeded the same month of the previous year. Month-to-month, the number of FTEs rose 0.4 percent from...
Choice Hotels International, Inc. has appointed Keith Biumi to the position of regional vice president, membership development of the Ascend Hotel Collection. The Ascend Hotel Collection is the world’s first and largest portfolio of distinctive upscale independent hotels and resorts, backed by the global resources of Choice Hotels. Biumi has more than 25 years of experience in the hotel industry in domestic and international markets, with broad expertise in development, franchising, brand...
What are the worst paying jobs in America for women? 24/7 Wall St. reviewed female weekly earnings as a percentage of male weekly earnings in full-time wage and salary jobs using data from the Bureau of Labor statistics to identify the 20 worst paying jobs for women in America. The 20 jobs with the lowest pay equity between men and women range from first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers, a job in which the typical woman earns 72.8% of male earnings, to personal financial...
The Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization referring to decision CE/DEC/15(CIV) of the Executive Council at its 104th session (Luxor, Egypt, 30 October – 1 November 2016), on the procedure for the election of the Secretary-General, informs in regards to the election for the post of Secretary-General for the period 2018-2021, that as of 11 March 2017, 24:00 hours, Madrid time, the deadline for the submission of candidatures in accordance with the aforementioned decision, the following...
Following constructive talks, which took place last night, Lufthansa and the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit reached an agreement regarding all previously unresolved collective bargaining matters. In a declaration of intent, the negotiating partners agreed on forward-thinking provisions for transitional payments, pension plans, the framework agreement on employment conditions and the collective wage agreement for the pilots of Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings. The...
Interstate Hotels & Resorts, a portfolio company of Kohlberg & Company, L.L.C., announced today the appointment of Michael J. Deitemeyer as Chief Executive Officer, effective March 23, 2017. He has also been appointed to serve on the Board of Directors of Interstate effective the same date. Deitemeyer joins Interstate after a highly successful tenure with Omni Hotels & Resorts. He served as President of Omni for 13 years, and prior to that helped grow the organization through...
Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week, Heathrow and 31 airport-based businesses have pledged to recruit, train and develop 516 new apprentices in 2017 – up from 455 last year – highlighting the airport community’s commitment to creating career opportunities. Heathrow Airport will create 125 new apprenticeships, alongside Omniserv (50), Balfour Beatty (20), World Duty Free (30), Travelex (40), Gate Gourmet (20), Dyer & Butler (10) and twenty five others – totalling 516 new places by...
Marco Polo Hotels has appointed HR specialist, Ms. Rosemary Tam, as Group Director of Human Resources. Previously with the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company, Rosemary joins Marco Polo Hotels to roll out talent acquisition and HR strategies for the successful hospitality group whose upscale deluxe hotel brand, Marco Polo, and upper luxury hotel brand Niccolo, are making significant headway in the region. Formerly with W Hong Kong and Le Meridien Cyberport as Director of Human Resources...
Benchmark, a global hospitality company, has named noted hospitality and restaurant executive, Todd Parmelee, vice president of food & beverage. In his new role, Mr. Parmelee will oversee the operations of all food and beverage departments for each of Benchmark’s 70 properties within the expanding Benchmark Resorts & Hotels and Gemstone Collection portfolios. He comes to Benchmark’s senior team with an exceptional background in food and beverage operations, entertainment...
Uber has spent the past two weeks embroiled in its biggest PR (and HR) crisis ever. But according to a report in Business Insider, the company’s head of operations, Ryan Graves, has been missing from the office. Graves used to oversee HR in his role in operations, and was Uber’s first CEO before Travis Kalanick. As per a Business Insider source, Graves has “vanished from the office, hasn’t been seen or heard from in days.” Uber employees speculated to BI that...
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world’s largest hotel companies, has appointed Dominic E. Dragisich to the position of chief financial officer, commencing March 6, 2017. Dragisich brings diverse and impressive experience in both finance and business administration to Choice, and will lead the company’s financial strategy as well as play a key role in strategic corporate growth initiatives, with a focus on company performance and shareholder value...
41.2% of Chinese consumers have a more negative view of the US following Trump’s first month as President. 50.7% of consumers held a neutral position and 8.1% viewed the US more positively according to a joint study by China Skinny and Findoout which surveyed 2,000 consumers across China in late February 2017. Buying American property and stocks, traveling to the US, and studying in the US are the three categories most negatively impacted with a net 17.7%, 13.9% and 10.0% of consumers...
Tully Luxury Travel announced today that after nearly 2 successful years as COO, Jason Sarracini has decided to move on to explore new opportunities. During his time at Tully Luxury Travel, Sarracini led the successful rebrand of The Cruise Professionals, and was instrumental in expanding the business into three highly-specialized divisions: Cruise Professionals, African Dreams and Private Travel Designers, under the Tully Luxury Travel brand. “We would like to sincerely thank Jason for...
US scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.7 percent more workers in December 2016 than in December 2015, the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today. December was the highest monthly FTE total (416,337) since March 2008 (416,457) and was the 38th consecutive month that US scheduled passenger airline full-time equivalent (FTE) employment exceeded the same month of the previous year. Month-to-month, the number of FTEs rose 0.1 percent from...
Embraer announced today the appointment of Michael Amalfitano as the President and CEO of its Executive Jets business unit. Amalfitano will succeed Marco Tulio Pellegrini, who will assume another leadership position to be announced soon. The change will become effective as of march 1st 2017. “We are thrilled that Michael has decided to join Embraer to lead our Executive Jets business. We are confident that as a very seasoned and successful executive he is qualified to take advantage of...
At the beginning of March Ralf Kunkel will become the new Vice President Communications at airberlin, reporting directly to CEO Thomas Winkelmann. “I would like to welcome Ralf to airberlin. We will be gaining an experienced communications professional, who brings his extensive knowledge and expertise as we embark on our restructuring and a new growth path,” said CEO Thomas Winkelmann. After studying German language, journalism and political science in Bamberg and Antwerp, Ralf...
A total of 24,920 visitors arrived in Seychelles in January, showing an increase of 33% compared to the same period last year which was at 18,760. According to the statistical bulletin released at the end of last month, by the National Bureau of Statistics, 93% of visitors in January were on holiday while 2% were on business or combining business with a holiday. It has also been recorded that 56% of visitors were from Europe, 11% from Africa, 28% from Asia and 4% from America. The leading six...
Konrad Gstrein has been named General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. A true leader in the industry, this is his sixth appointment with the company. Gstrein’s illustrious career started with Four Seasons in 2001 as Assistant Guest Services Manager at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. His journey has been fast paced and nonstop with signature assignments in Sydney and New York, where he worked in several management positions. In 2008, Gstrein was promoted to Director of Rooms at...
